This invention relates to a vehicle braking system of the general kind in which a brake actuator mounted adjacent a vehicle wheel to be braked is coupled by an operating mechanism to a remote electrically operated power device.
In one known proposal of this general kind, an actuator carried adjacent a wheel to be braked is operated from a chassis-mounted power device by way of a rod or cable mechanism. With such an arrangement, not only does relative movement between the brake and chassis disturb brake performance but noise from the power device is transmitted into the vehicle body.
It has also been proposed to mount an electric drive motor for a brake actuator at a location adjacent the actuator on structure supporting the vehicle wheel. This arrangement is not ideal because not only does the weight of the motor increase the unsprung weight of the vehicle, but the motor is located in a harsh operating environment and is difficult to protect from road dirt and other contaminants impinging thereon. Moreover, only a relatively small compact motor can usually be accommodated, because of the restricted space available adjacent the brake actuator, and this limits the available braking power.